THE SECOND DEPT USED THIS OPINION AS A VEHICLE TO EXPLAIN THE COMPLEX PROOF REQUIREMENTS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTIONS BROUGHT IN FORECLOSURE ACTIONS, EMPHASIZING THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE BUSINESS RECORDS EXCEPTION TO THE HEARSAY RULE (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Miller, explained in detail the proof requirement for a summary judgment motion in a foreclosure action, emphasizing the requirements of the business records exception to the hearsay rule. The court determined that the bank’s proof of standing was sufficient, but the proof of defendant’s default was not. The opinion is too detailed to be fairly summarized here and should be consulted for guidance in foreclosure actions:

From an appellate perspective, the recent flood of foreclosure appeals has revealed consistent and repeated confusion about some of the most fundamental aspects of the procedural, substantive, and evidentiary law that must be routinely applied in a foreclosure context. In an effort to provide additional clarity in this important area of the law, we deem it appropriate to collect and reiterate some of these foundational principles in the hope that such clarity will eliminate many of the disputes that make up an ever-increasing proportion of trial-level dockets. For the reasons that follow, we modify the order appealed from.

… [I]t bears noting that the business record exception to the hearsay rule applies to a “writing or record” (CPLR 4518[a]). Although “[t]he foundation for admission of a business record usually is provided by the testimony of the custodian, the author or some other witness familiar with the practices and procedures of the particular business” … , it is the business record itself, not the foundational affidavit, that serves as proof of the matter asserted … . Accordingly, “[e]vidence of the contents of business records is admissible only where the records themselves are introduced” … . Bank of N.Y. Mellon v Gordon,2019 NY Slip Op 02306, Second Dept 3-27-19